


stolen glances and missed chances

by nervousgaylaughter



Category: We Are The Tigers - Allen
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-10
Updated: 2019-09-10
Packaged: 2020-10-13 15:56:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20585117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nervousgaylaughter/pseuds/nervousgaylaughter
Summary: In the times when Eva and Kate's paths have crossed, Eva couldn't help but find herself intrigued with the feisty girl. She's always tried to find her way into Kate's life, but Kate is too enamored with her best friend Chess to notice anybody else. So why is Kate stuck on Eva’s mind?also known as the 5 times Kate didn’t notice Eva and the 1 she did





	1. she never sees me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BIG spoilers for watt  
i tagged major character death just in case, but... you know 
> 
> so ive been working on my writing style lately and idk if this flows well but i tell me what you think about it!

1

Eva is only five years old when she’s captivated by a girl at the park.

There's not too many kids there for a breezy summer day, but Eva likes it better this way. This is the 'good park' as her mom calls it. It's on the other side of town, the park by her house is where all her friends go, but this one has a better playground than hers. The kids who go here all know each other from Kindergarten, Eva's the outsider, and when there's less of them Eva feels less alone.

She’s on the swings, daydreaming and staring at the sky when yelling pulls her out of her serenity. She looks over to see an auburn haired girl yelling at her friend from across the monkey bars. “Kate, it’s only six bars you can do it!”

The girl, Kate, looks nervous but her friend’s words of encouragement send her leaping to the first bar. Eva stops swinging as she watches the brunette reach for the second bar. “Chess it hurts I don’t wanna.”

“Hey are you gonna swing or can my friend have a turn?” Eva’s attention is pulled away by a sweet looking boy around her age who gestures to his friend, a girl with a high pony tail wearing a pink shirt with a horse on it.

“Sorry you can go,” Eva says as she makes her way towards the monkey bars. By the time she looks back up Kate is on the fifth bar. The girl is shaking, but has a look of determination in her eyes.

“C’mon Kate one more!” The girl named Chess yells as Kate makes the reach for the last bar and suddenly swings herself onto the landing platform.

“You did it!” Chess pulls the shorter girl into a hug, but before Kate can respond Chess says, “Now let’s try the big kid bars!” And Chess runs off, leaving a wide eyed Kate behind.

“You did really good on those. I can never get past one,” Eva says as Kate finally meets her eyes.

“Thank you! I was really scared but I bet I can help you do it too,” Kate says earnestly.

”Kate let’s go!” Chess screams from a ways away. Kate looks at Eva and says, “I’ll see you at school,” before she runs after her friend. Eva knows she won’t ever see Kate at school, but is left wondering if she’d ever be friends with the intriguing girl on the monkey bars.

The thought leaves her five year old mind quickly, however, when her mom calls her name. "Eva! Come over here and take the twins on the slide please mija." So, Eva runs over to her mom and little brothers and the memory of Kate has already been forgotten as she enjoys her day in the sun.

* * *

2

Sophomore year had just begun and Eva, despite not making it as a freshman, had just been accepted on West High’s cheerleading team. Right off the bat, she’s proving all of them wrong about not letting her on last year. By their third game, it’s looking like Eva is going to be one of the highest ranked flyers in the state. Though she has no dreams of pursuing cheerleading beyond high school, she lives in the moment and is enjoying the ride of being on the winning team.

Everything is going smoothly until the rival game: Giles Corey High vs. West High. Tigers vs Titans. It’s the privileged private school rich kids vs the local public high school kids, but somehow, even with all their money, the Tigers are absolutely atrocious at football.

It’s thirty seconds until half time and the score is 58-0 for the Titans when their cheerleaders, ever the positive force, are trying and keep up everyone’s spirits with a new routine. Six girls are making a pyramid while a flyer and few bases are setting up behind them. Eva can’t see how or why, but suddenly the flyer is on the ground, she must have been dropped and had passed out and rolled into the pyramid, toppling over the whole squad as the girls fell on top of each other. The whistle is blown for half time, the paramedics are rushing towards the cheerleaders, and West High’s squad is just staring at the pile of girls on the other side.

“I’m gonna go use the bathroom,” Eva says to her captain who nods in response. Eva makes her way towards the stalls, and goes past the Tigers cheer squad.

“Is Farrah gonna be ok?” One girl insistently asks the paramedics, but she’s pulled aside by the Tigers’ captain.

“Farrah isn’t drunk again, right?” The captain asks the teary eyed girl as Eva keeps walking.

“She’s totally stoned, you do know that Riley.” A dark skinned girl says to a redhead who is anxiously biting her nails.

”Uh guys I don’t think we’re gonna win anyways so it’s fine right?” The girl in the mascot suit says.

Eva doesn’t like eavesdropping but it’s impossible not to hear the panicked words of a squad in shambles. She finally makes it to the bathrooms where a dark haired girl wearing a black choker is banging on one of the stalls.

_I didn’t know Giles Corey allowed their cheerleaders to wear jewelry, _Eva thinks.

“Chess, no one is mad at you please come out.”

“Gimme a second Kate,” the girl behind the stall says.

“Chess please I don’t care what everyone else thinks I just wanna know if you’re ok.” Kate gets frustrated and turns her back to the door, slouching down to the ground.

“You know, I thought your guys’ formations were really on point tonight,” Eva offers to the girl in distress.

“What does it even matter? We can do a whole night of perfect cheers, but one slip up is all anyone will remember tomorrow,” Kate says dejectedly, and Eva notices that, though the girl is upset, she’s kinda cute. But Eva doesn’t let herself think about it, they’re rivals and cheerleading is an overwhelmingly straight sport.

“Well, screw everyone else, I’m rooting for you guys,” Eva says.

“We don’t need your pity,” Kate says as the door behind her opens.

“Let’s get back to the squad Kate,” Chess says, not looking her friend in the eye. Kate nods as she follows Chess out of the bathroom. Eva is about to say goodbye as Kate nearly walks into Eva’s shoulder as she passes her.

Eva doesn’t blame the girl for her rudeness though, Kate is taking out her anger on the first ‘enemy’ she could find. If what she overheard was any indication, the Tigers had a lot of shit going on that they so desperately need to deal with. Eva walks back to her squad thinking about the cute angry brunette who probably wasn’t allowed to be wearing that choker at all.

“Did you wash your hands?” One of her teammates asks her jokingly when she gets back.

“Oh yeah,” Eva responds as she realized she was so distracted she forgot to actually use the bathroom. Her team begins gossiping about and berating the Tigers, but Eva zones out daydreaming about the girl she met.

* * *

3

As the year progressed, Eva found herself becoming more and more captivated with science. Specifically the science behind climate change. Lucky for her, there’s a townhall tonight in Giles Corey High School’s auditorium with a Senator up for reelection who doesn’t believe in global warming.

Eva decides to observe for the first half of the town hall. Even though it’s a huge election coming up, she notices a distinct lack of people in the room. Eva came alone and was sitting by herself. There’s two girls sitting a few rows in front of her, a crew of guys to her right, and several teachers, but the 1250 person auditorium is practically empty.

They’re on the topic of foreign affairs when one of the girls in front of her gets the microphone.

“Hi. I’m Kate. I just wanted to ask what makes you think it’s ok to ridicule and sexualize a 16 year old girl on Twitter.”

Eva’s eyes widen and she mutters “Oh shit,” to herself. She looks up to see a girl wearing a flannel standing with her arms crossed. Eva recognizes the snark, it’s the Tigers cheerleader from the bathroom that night.

The politician’s eyebrows quirk, looking visibly annoyed by the question he replies, “And when would I have done that?”

“March 3, 2018 you tweeted ‘What a shame about that gymnast Francesca. Her talents and looks will be missed (by me especially).’ That’s when you would have done that,” she says with a sarcastic glare.

The girl next to Kate, who must be Francesca- Chess Eva realizes- shrinks in her seat, but Kate won’t back down. There’s an awkward silence

_Who shortens Francesca to Chess of all things, _Eva wonders when the Senator responds, “I was merely expressing my sadness that dear Francesca couldn’t go to the Olympics, that’s all.” He gives Kate a cheesy politician smile, but she won’t take that for an answer.

_Well I guess all things considered it's better than Franny._

“Bullshit-” the moderator interrupts the girl, “Kate please restrain yourself-” but Kate just cuts him off too, “You’re gonna delete that Tweet and apologize right now.”

“I have no obligation to a girl like yourself.”

“This town hall is being livestreamed. Unless you wanna be the asshole of the nation I think you better do what I asked.” Kate and the Senator are in a staring match, and the young girl will not back down. Eva would say she was surprised at the girl’s directness, but she remembers her prior interactions with Kate and cannot deny her feisty nature. Though there’s only about 15 people in the room, the tension is palpable. If anyone knows the power of going viral, it’s Giles Corey High School.

The politician begins to look uncomfortable, he fixes his tie, “I will delete the tweet after this meeting, and Francesca, I apologize for the content of my tweet.”

Kate, finally satisfied, sits back down and looks at Chess who is anxiously playing with the sleeve of her jacket, but gives a grin to Kate. Eva is no longer paying attention to the moderator as she watches the interaction between the girls. If she’s being honest with herself, even though Kate is a cheerleader, she gives off gay vibes, and Eva is intrigued with the girl.

The two girls are having a hushed conversation when Chess gets out of her seat, making her way towards the back of the auditorium. Kate follows the girl’s path until she’s out of sight, when Eva catches her eye. They hold eye contact for a second, Kate scrunches her eyebrows trying to remember why the girl seems familiar which Eva finds adorable. Eva gives her a wave, and Kate just responds with a head nod, when her attention is diverted by the return of her friend.

Kate smiles for the first time that night when Chess sits down and Eva has a realization. Kate’s totally in love with Chess, but Chess is most definitely straight. Eva feels sad for Kate and the seeming hopelessness of their situation, Eva herself had a crush on her best, well ex-best friend, but the moderator announces, “Now onto climate change.”

Eva puts her thoughts about Kate’s disposition aside as she raises her hand to ask the politician her question. The microphone is brought to Eva as she notices Chess seems far more relaxed than she had been a few minutes earlier. She has stopped fiddling with her jacket sleeve completely, and is laughing at whatever Kate is telling her.

_It's none of your business Eva_,_ just forget it, _she tells herself. She grabs the mic and begins her leading question on climate change as Chess and Kate make their way past her and out of the auditorium.

Once again, Kate follows Chess, and Eva watches and wonders if she would ever get to know the snarky girl better.

* * *

4

Eva is at JJ’s Bikes and Boards looking for a new skateboard when she hears the shop’s bell ring. Thinking nothing of it she continues to scan her options. For her thirteenth birthday, Eva’s parents got her a simple black longboard which she has covered with stickers over the years, but she wants to get into skate tricks which requires a skateboard. The rainbow one immediately catches her eye, but Eva thinks that might be a little too much, so she grabs the plain black one. She decides stickers are more her style.

She has to choose quickly though because her shift at the local pizza joint starts in 30 minutes which means she’s dressed in her signature red pizza hat, red pizza polo, and of course her favorite jean jacket. Not necessarily a skater girl look, but more of a girl who needs to support her family look.

“How would one go about painting a skateboard?” Eva hears a girl ask JJ.

Eva is endeared by that thought. She loved personalizing her longboard, but couldn’t do any form of art to save her life. She peaks over the rack of pennyboards to see who asked the question and of course it’s her. Eva just cant seem to stop running into the small angry girl from the Tigers. Eva hears JJ describe the kind of skateboard she needs and grabs the right one for Kate.

“So basically you have to sand it down and then when you’re done cover it with sealant,” JJ describes to a very interested Kate.

“Hey I overheard so I grabbed the skateboard you need,” Eva taps Kate on the shoulder.

“Oh. Thanks,” Kate begins to turn back to the register, but Eva wants the conversation to keep going.

“So why are you painting a skateboard?”

“It’s my best friend’s birthday soon and her current one is so ratty that I thought I’d make her a new one that’s unique like she is,” Kate says with a smile.

“Oh that’s nice,” is all Eva could manage before JJ rung up Kate’s purchase. There’s a box full of buttons on sale for 99 cents a piece and Eva sees Kate pick up one with a rainbow heart, fiddle with it a bit, and put it back before grabbing one with a black star and handing it to JJ.

_Oh yeah_, Eva thinks, _she’s in love with her best friend and probably super repressed. _Kate finishes buying her items and she gives Eva a kinda awkward salute on her way out, which Eva found completely adorable.

_Why out of all the girls do you have to be so charmed by the repressed Tiger? _Eva’s thoughts are interrupted by JJ.

“Hey girl, whatcha buying this time? New wheels?”

“Nope, I’m getting a new skateboard so I can learn some tricks and not just cruise around.”

“OOOOH when you learn you have to come back round and show me some videos, ok sweetheart.”

“Of course JJ,” Eva hands JJ her debit card and, somewhat impulsively grabs the rainbow heart button. JJ makes no comment, she just smiles as she adds that to the purchase.

Eva grabs the skateboard and the button and heads back to her car to drive to work. She stares at the button in the palm of her hand. Everyone at school knew she was gay, so why did pinning it on her jacket seem like such a big deal? Kate was considering buying it, but so what, it’s not like Eva had a crush on the girl she barely knew. It should be nothing, but for some reason she can’t explain, it feels significant to Eva.

With a deep breath, Eva puts the button on the pocket of her jacket and begins to drive to work.

* * *

5

It’s been an overwhelmingly boring shift for Eva so far. She delivered the usual 2 cheese pizzas extra sauce (who gets extra sauce?) to the Andersons, the weekly munchie order for the stoned kids at the nearby college (they tip horribly), and even a whopping 15 pizzas for a spoiled eight year old’s birthday party (she got out of there as quickly as possible), but nothing eventful had really happened.

Her next stop was in a gated community (she hated delivering there, the guard always took so long to let her in) with a gluten-free cheese pizza going to 16 Hartcourt. She rings the doorbell several times before two girls come to the door.

One of the girls abruptly grabs the box and asks, “Do I know you?” They recognize her as West High’s flyer. That’s a first. No one has ever bothered to remember her before. The girls explain that they’re Tigers, and now Eva notices the Tigers jersey one of them is wearing. Eva awkwardly fumbles through her ramble about how she’s rooting for them, but she keeps thinking about the fact that this means Kate is somewhere nearby.

Just as she’s talking about the unfairness of their viral video she’s cut off as she sees the unamused expression on their faces.

“Well, uh it was nice to officially meet you.”

“Yeah well I’m sure we’ll see you again soon,” but the girl looks as if she wished that would never come true. Eva tips her hat at the girls and makes her way back towards her car when a figure comes storming though the darkness towards her. They just barely avoid colliding with each other when Eva recognizes the figure as a distressed Kate. She has tears in her eyes, her fists are balled up, and she’s breathing heavily.

Despite her better judgement, Eva calls after the girl, “Hey are you ok?” Kate completely ignores the pizza girl and continues into the house. Eva just sighs as she does unnoticed by Kate once again as she gets into her car.

Eva checks her phone to see how much they tipped her, since they’re rivals she’s not expecting much but a $3 tip for a $12 pizza is not too shabby. Riley might be the captain of the Tigers, but at least she’s not a monster.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It wasn’t until three days later when she’s scrolling through twitter and sees something about the Tigers that she realizes she was there that night. She was there when a drunk freshman killed a boy and two of the other girls, one of which is Chess. Kate's best friend.

Eva knows it’s absolutely none of her business, but she can’t help but wonder how Kate is doing. There’s no way the short-tempered girl is dealing with her feelings healthily. But then again, anyone who loses their best friend, crush or no crush, can’t be expected to react rationally at all.

Eva has no way of contacting Kate without it being totally creepy, so she just hopes that the girl is doing alright.

Then she gets an email. It’s from Giles Corey High School. They’re offering her a full scholarship, _holy shit that’s $60,000, _Eva thinks, and all she has to do is be on the cheer team. On one hand the Tigers have an amazing science program, and murder squad or not, she doesn’t think she can pass up that opportunity.

_There’s no way someone on the cheer team will be murdered again, that’s just statistically improbable, _Eva reasons. How can one pass up this chance, she loves West High and all her friends, but in order to go to college, she really needs a full ride, and more Tigers than Titans get scholarships, so the choice is obvious. 


	2. but maybe now she will

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so a lot of this is basically a retelling of act 2 from eva's perspective, but i hope y'all enjoy it!

1

Eva had just arrived at Riley’s house, in the gated community (ironically the guard gave her no problem this time around), where she was that fateful night, but now she’s a part of the madness of the Tigers too. It all feels surreal, and as she approaches the squad, she immediately notices Kate standing there, staring insistently at one of the girls when she asks if she’s in the right place.

_No shit you’re at 16 Hartcourt Eva literally all the Tigers are here, _she internally berates herself. One of the girls who took the pizza from her, Annleigh is her name, identifies her as West High’s flyer, but Eva corrects her. She’s a Tiger now too, but then the other girl who Eva met that night appears and asks her where the pizza is.

_I guess Riley really didn’t give them the memo, _and just as Eva is explaining how cheer is just a hobby and she really wants to be a climatologist, Riley emerges from her house and welcomes them all. Eva begins to make her way into the house when Kate stops her. _Huh this is quite the role reversal._

“Hey, I- I like your pin,” Kate says to Eva with a nervous smile. This is the first time Eva has been the direct recipient of Kate’s smile and, if she’s being honest, she could get used to it. She realizes Kate doesn’t remember the button, but more importantly she has no clue who Eva is despite all their past interactions.

“Thanks. My name’s Eva.” Kate looks her in the eyes and Eva’s pulse starts rushing. Eva puts out her hand as the girl replies, “Kate,” she tells Eva as if Eva hadn’t known that for a long while.

They both enter the house, but Eva needs to change out of her work uniform before she can do anything else. Kate and Riley start bickering back and forth and that’s when she decides to make an escape to the bathroom. She figured any team where three murders occurred would have some drama, but she thought everyone might keep their cool for at least 5 minutes.

When Eva returns, Kate begins to sass Riley once again. Some might see it as crass, but Eva knows the girl is hurting. Then, Kate says something interesting, “Everyone in this room knows that Mattie didn’t kill anyone.” This is news to Eva, and Cairo gestures towards the new girl to which Kate says, “Eva is on the team now she should know what she signed up for.”

_Yo what the fuck is happening _Eva thinks to herself as the girls argue. Then Cairo spills the real tea on Kate when she refers to Chess as Kate’s ‘little girlfriend.’

_Wait were Chess and Kate actually dating or is Cairo mocking Kate?_

Cairo and Kate go back and forth, and when Cairo reminds Kate that Chess is dead, even though she’s incredibly curious, Eva says, “Should I maybe come back later?” Riley assures her that she should stay and it’s all fine, but then Kate is storming off with threats to call the police.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

Eva was added to the Tigers’ groupchat that night and Riley announces that they have cheer practice in her basement the following day, when hopefully everyone had cooled down a bit. _Why do they always practice in a basement when they have a very expensive gymnasium, _Eva wonders.

The afternoon is a blur. Reese admitted to murdering Clark. Reese and Annleigh straight up got in a fight. Eva wondered if she should intervene even though it’s totally not her place. Then they ended up locked in the 'basement of death' as Kate calls it. Before she knows it, Eva was accused of murder since she was there that night. Suddenly Riley appears to be having a breakdown and admitted to being the murderer. Kate got stabbed.

All this happened either so quickly or in slow motion, but apparently Eva is the only one in the basement with common sense since she recorded Riley’s admission to give to the police. They called the cops and an ambulance where Riley was taken to jail and Kate to the hospital. It was all to much to think about as she lied in bed that night.

The light of her phone buzzing pulls Eva out of her memories of the day.

Kate: hey

Kate: idk if you got all our numbers

Kate: but this is Kate

Eva: Hey Kate, are you doing ok?

Kate: Not really

Eva stares at the message. She doesn’t know quite how to respond when Kate texts again.

Kate: i don’t mean to put all this on you

Kate: i just trust you more than any of my other friends right now

Eva: I’m so sorry Kate I can’t imagine how you’re feeling.

Kate: thanks

Several minutes pass with no messages, so Eva decides there’s no time like the present to shoot her shot.

Eva: So I was wondering if you’d like to get ice cream or something sometime

Eva: No biggie if you’re busy

Kate: you know i have heard that ice cream is good for stab wounds

And though she knows that Kate is making no sense and is probably hopped up of pain meds right now, Eva chuckles at the girl’s attempt at flirting. They continue texting all night, and all of the next day until they meet up for their first official date.

And for the first time, Kate had really noticed Eva.

**Author's Note:**

> so idk how i feel about this yet i'm trying to work on my writing style overall, but please let me know what you think!


End file.
